For 45 years Greg and Jeannie Bailey, Dorrigo, have worked with Angus cattle, crossing them with Herefords for hybrid vigour – tried and true black baldies.
These days they describe themselves as semi-retired and manage 400ha of former dairy farms on Dorrigo Mountain Top, adjacent to the escarpment.
“I like to start with a good Angus base to breed my herd,” Mr Bailey said of his experience, which began with Northern Rivers’ cattle but has evolved to New England sires.
The female line is a closed breeding herd of 200 Angus cows that can trace their lineage to Hazeldean blood from the Southern Highlands. Bulls nowadays are bred at home.
“When I buy a top stud sire to breed bulls I choose the one I like but I also make the decision on all available figures,” he said.
“In no particular order I look for birth weight, weaning weight, 400 day weight, eye muscle and fat cover. I’m looking for weight all the way through just not at birth. And I’m looking for moderate frame, but on the bigger side.”
Terminal sires are Ayre blood Charolais, giving extra weight and shape to the pure grassfed article.
The Baileys have gone back into breeding after years of trading and fattening in order to achieve ‘consistent repeatable quality’.
“In trading, to get the same margins, you need more than double your turnover per year, and you can’t source the quality of stock you need when you want them and at a satisfactory landed price,” said Mr Bailey. “Therefore you can’t produce consistently what the market requires. That’s why we went back to breeding.”
Cows are sold ‘calves for age’ at 10 years old and on performance the way through.
“If we are doing things well, breeding and selecting, our youngest should be the best cattle,” he said.
The Baileys now join the Angus heifers with full blood Wagyu bulls for ease of calving and hopefully a high value article from the first gestation.
Heifers are 300kgs plus at joining and calve at 21-22 months. Most of the calves are 300kgs when weaned. The Bailey’s sale yearlings are grass-finished at 16-20 months aiming at 550kgs liveweight or 300kgs dressed. And Mr Bailey acknowledges the trend towards moderate product, with calves penalised when selling carcasses to Woolworths over 320kg
Calving starts in July for nine weeks, as later calving leads to issues with scours – Dorrigo pasture can be rich.
Mr Bailey’s primary working life revolved around running the family enterprise which included growing and wholesaling potatoes, rural produce and retail. These businesses have evolved over a period of 75 years.
Pasture health key to genetic potential
ATOP Dorrigo Mountain the Bailey family runs cattle with the environment in mind. They helped start the region’s first Landcare group and have planted an estimated 50,000 Eucalypt and rainforest trees as windbreaks along creek lines and roadways.
Creek lines are fenced to keep stock clear of fragile banks and waterways, with sustainable water quality the aim. All Rainforest remnants have been fenced and preserved as designated wildlife refuge.
Of course sustainability extends to their soils. “We fertilise with chemical and organic fertilisers and add Lime when required to maintain ideal pH, and pay attention to soil structure,” said Mr Bailey. “We rarely spray out paddocks,and once established, pursue long-term permanent pastures using considerable nutrient inputs.”
Mr Bailey said it was critical to maintain species which have stood the test of time, the main nitrogen-fixing legume white clover, and temperate tall fescue, perennial rye grasses, cocksfoot,and sub-tropical Kikuyu.
